Arianespace’s Launch Vehicle Completes Initial Integration

The upper portion of Arianespace's heavy-lift Ariane 5 is surrounded by work platforms that provide access to various levels of the launch vehicle. Visible in the background at right is the vehicle equipment bay , which is being positioned for its installation atop the Ariane 5 cryogenic upper stage on the launcher's core section. (Arianespace photo)

KOUROU, French Guiana, Nov. 3, 2006/Satnews Daily/ — Arianespace has announced that the Ariane 5 industrial team has completed initial buildup of the heavy-lift launcher for Arianespace's year-ending dual satellite mission, which is scheduled for a December liftoff.

On Wednesday, the ring-shaped vehicle equipment bay was hoisted upward inside the Spaceport's Launcher Integration Building for its integration atop Ariane 5. Weighing approximately 950 kg., the equipment bay contains the flight control unit, telemetry, power distribution systems and other elements for guidance, orientation and sequencing during the Ariane 5 mission.

Included in the equipment bay's guidance system are highly precise laser gyros, which contribute to making Ariane 5's orbital injection the most accurate of any commercial launch system.

EADS Astrium builds the vehicle equipment bay, while EADS Space Transportation is the prime contractor for Ariane 5.

Launch team members made one final inspection of the Ariane 5's cryogenic upper stage before lowering the vehicle equipment bay into position. Additional checkout and preparation of the Ariane 5 are continuing inside the Launcher Integration Building, followed by its transfer to the Final Assembly Building - where the mission's dual-satellite payload of the WildBlue-1 and AMC-18 spacecraft will be installed.

As with Arianespace's four previous missions performed since January, the year-ending Ariane 5 flight will carry two primary satellite passengers: the WildBlue-1 broadband connectivity spacecraft for WildBlue, and the AMC-18 multi-mission relay platform for SES Americom.

AMC-18's payload of 24 C-band transponders will distribute cable television services to the 50 United States, Mexico and the Caribbean. It will expand SES Americom's fleet of satellites, which provide the distribution of cable, broadcast television and radio, telecommunications services, business television and broadband data throughout the Americas and transoceanic regions. AMC-18 is manufactured by Lockheed Martin Commercial Satellite Systems and is based on the company's A2100 spacecraft bus.

The WildBlue-1 satellite will enable WildBlue to expand its satellite broadband connectivity to homes and small businesses in U.S. communities where terrestrial broadband access is either limited or unavailable. This 4.7-metric ton high-power satellite is based on Space Systems/Loral's 1300 spacecraft bus, and will provide Ka-band spot beam capacity over the contiguous United States.

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